by Angela White
“I’m alive,” she stated wearily. “As you are.”
Now came the time for it, but Angela found she couldn’t ask yet. She stalled with the next biggest thing on her mind. “She loves you.”
Marc stiffened in misery and triumph. “Yes.”
“You allowed it…encouraged it.”
Marc felt her digging in his mind then and didn’t defend. She had a right to know.
“In case I’d chosen Adrian, or even fled with him and the boys.” Angela’s heart broke as she got the rest. “So you wouldn’t be left alone, without us.”
Marc came closer, red fading to sad blue. “Have you picked him?”
“No. Never.”
“Something happened. I sense it, feel it on you.”
Angela shoved her hands into her pockets so that she could clench fists against the desire of recalling it all, and then opened her mind.
Marc viewed it without any change in expression. He’d known Adrian would do something like that, but he’d expected it to go much further than an unwilling kiss. She’d been faithful to him.
“Always,” she whispered. “Can you say the same?”
Marc didn’t hear any accusation, only heart-stopping fear, and finally relented. “Yes. I can.”
Tears welled for her. “I’ve missed you…”
Marc didn’t hesitate any longer. “Come here.”
Angela curled into his embrace and began sobbing inside. The relief of still being wanted was powerful, but it was the easing of his mind that tore her up. He’d been so sure Adrian would win that he’d surrounded himself with platitudes and safety nets. The coldness wasn’t from him choosing another woman. He was trying to breathe, to go on, without her.
Marc held her close, nuzzling her neck to get in as much of her scent as he could. God, I need her so much!
She shivered against him. “Please?”
Marc took them to the cot and sank down with her in his arms.
Across his chest, Angela repositioned herself at his side, drawing a concerned glance thrown in a quick study.
Angela rose up on one arm and took his hand, placed it on her stomach.
Marc connected the sound and the feel, and then what it meant. That dark part of his soul began to lighten quicker.
Angela felt the wall between them melting, becoming a river of regret at her feet, and wrapped him in her arms. She didn’t budge again. She had no energy left. She’d used the last of it to demonstrate her power to Kendle.
Marc stayed awake a bit longer, remembering the few times it had felt like this while on the way to Safe Haven. It held the sense of a new beginning, but he wasn’t sure why. The new life they would welcome had to be a part of it, but there was the feeling that maybe he’d missed something else good that would come from all of this.
“Will she stay with me?” he questioned in a soft whisper.
The witch roused herself from his demon’s arms long enough to give an answer.
No. She came to tell you of the baby, and to set you free. If you love her, never leave her again.
Marc’s grip tightened. He wouldn’t. She’d been faithful to him, she still wanted him. That was all he needed.
2
Angela woke in the one place that she had longed for since the split and stayed still, breathing in Marc’s thick scents, listening to his light snore. The urge to bury her head against his chest and stay here forever was strong, but it wasn’t enough to hold her. She’d already chosen the herd over him and that hadn’t changed. If he wanted to be free, he now was. She slipped from his arms reluctantly.
Angela left his tent a few minutes later. She’d taken the time to say goodbye to Dog, and to thank him for bringing her here.
Reunited with his master, the wolf’s parting words had been much like the bond they’d shared before Marc’s power came between them.
You’ll be with him soon. I’ll be by his side.
Angela walked through the noon light with a blank expression. She didn’t speak to any of the Indians, leaving the way she’d come.
Kendle observed her exit from a nearby tent that the Indians had put up for her. She already knew what choice Marc would make, but over the hours she’d been waiting, Kendle had come to a few conclusions of her own. The biggest was that she didn’t love Marc, not the way she had Luke. She needed Marc to keep her sanity. Luke had been in her soul.
“That’s why I’m so dark now,” she realized. “It isn’t the ghosts of the past or the sickness. I miss my mate.”
Kendle’s tears sent her back into the tent and the Indians on duty upped their bets on who she would belong to when Marc rose.
3
“Marc’s home! Hey! Marc’s back!”
Marc withstood the greetings, the concern and the questions as best he could, rage boiling. There was only one person he wanted right now.
Neil met him at Safe Haven’s gate, but Marc cut him off. “Where is she?”
Neil waved toward the prepping area they’d set up along the mess truck. “She and Adrian are…”
Marc left him at the gate.
The guards were too happy to have him back to think of stopping him from coming through the second wire fence.
Neil hurried to catch up. “What is it?”
Marc didn’t answer.
Neil assumed he was in a hurry to make sure Angela was okay. They’d been apart for almost seven weeks and Neil hung back, not wanting to interrupt their reunion. At least we’ll have something good come from today, he thought.
Marc spotted those hated, golden spikes and that long, gray and black braid, and increased his pace. He’d been waiting for this, longing for it.
Angela turned around to view the QZ and gasped in surprise at the open, eager tiger that wouldn’t ever go into a cage again.
Adrian understood too late.
Thud!
Marc snarled at the impact. “That wasn’t…”
Kick!
“What I meant…”
Punch!
“When I said…”
Thud!
“To care for her!”
Thud!
Marc took a step back. “Get up!”
Adrian spit blood onto the ground and slung the same from his hands. “I did what I thought was…”
Thud!
Adrian’s own rage flared to life and he growled, “You don’t own her!”
Marc’s demon eyes were fierce. “You took advantage!”
Adrian spit blood again. “Yes.”
Marc paused, still not calming now that he’d drawn Adrian’s blood, felt it. “Don’t ever touch her again.”
“Unless she comes to me,” Adrian refuted, looking up confidently. “And we both know that she will. It’s why you’ve got another woman with you.”
Marc’s fist flew out again.
Thud!
“Yes, but she wouldn’t have if not for your lies and tricks.” Marc grabbed Adrian by the neck. “She’s mine. I don’t share my heart!”
Adrian’s eyes went to Angela. “She does. You can’t change that.”
Thud!
“No. I can’t.” Marc moved back, happily splattered in Adrian’s blood. “But I can take something from you and return the favor. She’s carrying my daughter.”
Marc smirked at Adrian’s thunderous face. “You’ll only have her when I’m dead.”
Adrian glared at Angela in betrayed accusation as he picked up her thoughts.
She stared back in defiant anger. “You gave me no choice.”
Marc wiped his hands down his jeans. “You can’t come between us now, no matter what services you provide while I’m away.”
Adrian’s eyes lit up with his inner demon for the first time inside Safe Haven’s borders. “I would have waited until it was safe for her, not used it to secure my hold! You’ve put her in danger.”
Marc had the grace to flush. “It wasn’t planned, obviously, but it’s been eight months since her miscarriage. She’ll be fine.”<
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Adrian spat at Marc’s boots. “Ask her why she told you no before, that it would come later. Ask her!”
Marc had a sinking feeling as he studied Angela. “What?”
Angela didn’t want to answer. She was scared of the truth. “I’m using a lot of energy. I’ll be…tired.”
“Tired?” Adrian snorted angrily. “It will consume her, drain her, until she loses it. Our kind has to keep a big reserve because the fetus is more evolved. That’s probably what happened to her last child.”
Both men glanced around for a common enemy in that area.
Kenn, drawn by the fight, flipped them the finger. “Fuck you assholes. I’ve got my own upcoming fatherhood to sort out.”
Shock came as everyone realized what that meant.
Seizing the opportunity, Adrian congratulated his XO with a bloody hug. “Good job, grunt!”
Even Marc found himself relieved. Not by Tonya’s conception, but by life trying to continue. He went to Angela with a much calmer heart.
“I’m sorry.”
Marc’s hand went to her soft cheek, nose being assaulted by her missed scent. “I know and it helped, but stop hating yourself now. That’s an order.”
Angela’s tears were unexpected and Marc hugged her close. “I mean it, Angie. I don’t blame you. His type of sleaze is hard to fight. They use the truth to trap you”
Angela cried harder, mumbling, and Marc had to strain to make out the words. “You what?”
“I was awake,” Angela sniffed guiltily. “I knew you weren’t.”
Marc stared in shock. And then burst out laughing. “I love you.”
Angela melted into his arms as a wave of purple rippled through the shield above them.
“Oh, Brady!”
She’d seen enough of the future to know this was the only thing that could give them peace. Adrian wouldn’t break up their happy family and neither would she.
4
“Hey, Smurf-balls.”
Kenn’s stomach dropped and he slowly turned around. He knew that damn voice.
Thud!
Marc’s single shot took the Marine to his knees.
“Stay there and listen.”
Kenn didn’t even think of arguing. Marc’s glaring red orbs held his death.
“You owe a debt to me.”
“Yes,” Kenn agreed slowly. He’d known it would come to this if Marc survived. “But I still stand by my choice.”
“Yeah, you would,” Marc sneered. “To pay off the debt you now owe, you’ll take care of someone and personally make sure that she’s put into place.” Marc shoved into Kenn’s mind and found the shocked Marine on his knees there, too.
As it should be, Marc sent.
Kenn lowered his head further in submission.
Marc withdrew. “She’s in the QZ. You’ll know what I want as soon as you see her.”
Kenn went that way without looking back. He suddenly found himself wishing for the pranks to start up again. Marc’s payback might make them seem fun.
5
Marc’s homecoming spread through camp and drew hundreds of people to where he was standing by the center fire. One arm around Angela’s waist, the other over Charlie’s shoulders, he appeared like a man who was happy to be home. He also looked more like their other leaders than any of the camp or Eagles had noticed before. Maybe it was the new strengths in his tones or the power lurking in his stance that had nothing to do with his Colts for a change. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what had changed, but they were all aware that something had.
The mystery was solved for most of the Eagles as soon as Marc began talking to the chain of command and delivering his own type of updates.
Marc glanced at Neil and Samantha, then Jeremy who stood behind and to the right. “Boys.”
Samantha flushed.
Marc gave her a wink and then gazed at Crista. “Not sure. Ask me in a week.”
Crista gave a curt nod, not at all happy to have Jeff find out this way.
Marc delivered a hard tone in response. “It’s time we flooded ourselves with hope. Would you deny them that?”
Scolded, Crista shook her head. “No. I’m sorry.”
Marc moved away from Angela and Charlie. They were both reading his thoughts as he had them, one surprised, the other grateful.
“Girl, maybe two. Hard to tell with the way your heart’s thumping so hard.”
Candy’s face was even more shocked than the people around her.
Marc raised a brow at Angela and she gave her approval silently. They’re as much yours as mine now. As you would.
Marc glowed for her, sending heat into her heart. She moaned at the sensation. Thank you for giving him back to me!
Marc glanced around. “Would all of the pregnant woman please report to the mess?”
At the last camp meeting, they’d had six. Jennifer had given birth, and one of the others had also lost her child to a premature delivery. The camp expected the numbers to be worse now, sure Marc was about to tell them they needed to lower the age limit again.
Tonya was the first one to react.
Samantha and Crista followed.
Jeff continued to gape, as Neil and Jeremy exchanged suddenly challenging looks. When Becky went toward the mess, Seth’s heart dropped. It’s too soon!
Angela gave Marc a soft glance of happiness and took her place.
The camp liked that. It sent a swirl of crimson-killing green and blue through their shield.
Candy’s pregnancy was known by a few and didn’t cause much stir when she went. Cynthia joining them did.
Kevin instantly guessed who the father was and glowered hatefully.
Cynthia read it, but the response she sent was a shock. Fuck you.
Marc viewed Jennifer. “You belong there.”
Gathering her courage, Jennifer came to his side. “Does she?”
Marc didn’t need his demon to scan the infant. “As much as her mother.”
Jennifer grinned happily and went to the join the others.
Tracy was the only member of Angela’s team that didn’t go to the mess. She flushed under the expectant stares. “I’m not.”
Eyes went to Charlie and the teenager chuckled regretfully. “Sorry, but you guys were cramping my style a lot. There wasn’t time for me to knock her up. Wait for it, will ya?”
Laughter exploded across the area.
Marc began searching the crowd. “There are a few more.”
Other parts of Safe Haven’s population began joining Angela’s team, people that didn’t usually draw much notice otherwise. Four more females went to the mess.
Marc waved at the small group. “We’ve already begun to heal. Now, we’ll get a chance at recovery.”
Marc walked toward the twelve females, voice ringing with a leader’s command. “This is our future, what we’ll be fighting for. They belong to us. They cannot be taken or our country ceases to exist. Remember how they look right now.”
Marc lifted his hand and a thick bolt of blue light shot into the air above the mess. It faded into a small shield that came down and settled over the females. Each one of them closed their eyes as his energy sank in. It was eerie, the way they arched in tandem, some of them groaning. Marc drove in the point by using the other hand to hit Angela directly with his light.
Angela felt the heat all over her, but it concentrated mostly on her stomach. Starving for him, she drank greedily.
The camp watched her hair become solid black again, her lines and weary face tightening in the smooth beauty that she’d come to them with. Health glowed from her like a flame as Marc slowly let go of both connections.
Every one of the women flinched or groaned in protest, including his soulmate.
Kendle watched from a distance, escorted by Quinn. Her face was emotionless.
“They need your energy. Laughter is the best way to give it to them,” Marc explained. “Tell a joke and offer them a snack. Help them provide the next generation.”
Adrian used the moment to take two of the expectant fathers aside. His words to Seth were short.
“You saw how to keep her healthy.”
Seth’s face was hard. He would shove her full.
“Good. Go do a round. We’re vulnerable right now with so many of us in one place.”
Adrian turned to Kevin. “FND.”
Kevin was furious. “I won’t do it!”
Adrian grew angry. “You weren’t even in the picture and she just found out. Shut up and listen.”
Kevin glared, and Adrian shoved into his mind. This is the only chance you’ll get to have a child.
The reminder was a harsh blow and Kevin didn’t know how to react. When John had confirmed it, he’d been glad. Cynthia hadn’t wanted kids. He had, a little, but it had been okay because he got to concentrate on his place in camp.
“She’ll be alone for about two minutes,” Adrian warned. “You’re not the only one who picked up too much radiation since the war.”
Adrian left him with that thought. The couple would work the rest of it out on their own and he would only interfere if he had to. It wasn’t the first time he’d gifted someone this way, but it would probably be the easiest. Never being around those children, not knowing if they’d lived, had hurt him over and over.
Adrian spotted Neil and Jeremy exchanging nasty glares, but before he could do anything, Marc handled it.
“Samantha?”
Neil and Jeremy turned that way as soon as Marc said her name, hoping to learn who the father was.
Marc locked eyes with the happy blonde. “You know what’s coming.”
“I’ve been hoping for that.”
Sam’s face was flushed in satisfaction. Marc tasted good!
Marc glanced at Neil, then Jeremy. “One each. Sons. Congratulations.”
“Superfecundation is the medical term,” Angela stated, gravitating to Marc’s side. “I believe it happened because you secretly longed for it and so did they.”
Samantha went to her shocked men, confused. “You wanted this? She can’t be right.”
Jeremy cleared his throat, embarrassed and uneasy to admit it in front of so many people. “I hoped if you were carrying my baby, you’d keep me around.”
Neil snorted angrily. “What a cheap trick!”